Hygienic articles are in constant use. Hygienic articles include those articles which are brought into intimate contact with the skin. If contaminated, hygienic articles expose the user to various risks, ranging from epidermal irritation to infection. Exemplary hygienic articles include facial tissue, wet wipes, bath tissue, adult and infant diapers, sanitary napkins, and cellulose pads as are commonly used for removal of makeup, etc.
Hygienic articles are often carried by the user in a purse, glove compartment, etc. To conveniently keep a convenient number of the hygienic articles together, a plurality of the hygienic articles are commonly grouped together in a single package. The package has an aperture through which the hygienic articles are dispensed, typically in serial, on an as-needed basis. After one hygienic article is removed from the package, the balance of the hygienic articles remain in the package for later use.
The packages are commonly made of an impervious film, typically a polyolefin. This film prevents external contamination from entering the package directly through the walls of the package.
The package frequently has a reclosable cover flap. The reclosable cover flap articulates between an open position and a closed position. The open position allows for dispensing hygienic articles from the package. In the closed position, the cover flap prevents the hygienic articles from inadvertently falling out of the package.
But the consumer expects more than a cover flap which merely prevents inadvertent loss of the hygienic articles within the package. The consumer expects a cover flap in the closed position to protect the hygienic articles from external contamination. Dust, etc., which enters the package and either visibly, or without cover flap in the closed position to protect the hygienic articles from external contamination. Dust, etc., which enters the package and either visibly, or without apparent visual indication, contaminates the hygienic articles and exposes the consumer to the aforementioned risks.
One attempt to deal with this problem has been to cut the aperture into the impervious film. The portion of the film complementary to the cut then forms the distal edge of the reclosable flap. The distal edge of the reclosable flap is then, by definition, a perfect match to the edge of the dispensing aperture. The flap is closed so that the two edges meet and are held in place, typically by a piece of tape which overlaps both the flap and the wall of the package adjacent the aperture. Prior to first use, the distal edge can be held in place by small frangible uncut lands, such as occur by perforations. The user breaks the lands or perforations, thus completing the cut upon first use.
This attempt has several drawbacks. First, the overlapping tape is very expensive. Overlapping tape can increase the cost of the reclosability feature of the package by at least 200 percent, compared to a printed adhesive which provides the same reclosure security.
Additionally, the edge of the flap and edge of the aperture almost never perfectly meet during reclosure, particularly after dispensing one or more of the hygienic articles. There is always some gap between these two edges. This gap allows contamination to enter. The gap occurs due to stresses caused by folding the flap over the package after one or more articles have been removed. Removal of the hygienic articles causes the flap and the package to shift in the direction normal to the flap and package mating surfaces, since the volume of the contents has been reduced. Furthermore, the user rarely meticulously aligns the flap with the cut opening during reclosure.
One approach to the misregistration of the edges is to cut the wrapper film in order to make the cover flap larger than the aperture to ensure consistent overlap upon reclosure. This arrangement requires that the shape of the distal edge of the cover flap match the shape of the complementary edge of the dispensing aperture. Rarely is one shape optimal for both edges. Furthermore, this arrangement requires the flap to be fully cut and separated from the package at the time of manufacture. However, it may be desired to leave the flap and package arrangement intact, but separated by lines of weakness having frangible lands. This arrangement keeps the contents secure until opened by the user.
It is an object of this invention to provide a package for hygienic articles which completely encloses the hygienic articles to reduce the risk of contamination, both before and after initial use by the consumer. It is further an object of this invention to provide such a package which allows for independently shaping the edges of the dispensing aperture and cover flap. Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide a package for hygienic articles which can be closed without the use and expense of an overlapping adhesive tape.